10

as of this morning, it has been 10 years since i came out to live on the left coast.
10!

and just like the first morning when i woke up in whistler, my sleep came to an end with reports of princess diana's death and memorial. it was like a very weird flashback, and it's even weirder that my arrival here is connected with her death. auspicious beginning, no?

anyhoo - am taking the morning off work since i have to work a booth at the PNE (super dogs! mini doughnuts!) so have time to contemplate my 10 years here, and all i can say is, i have survived. and then some.

i have a book that reduces the phases of your life to a pie graph and between 20 and 30, it says "maturing". i concur. lots of maturing has happened (granted, i'm not 30 yet so there is still more to come).

here's a list of my accomplishments in the past 10 years (seriously, 10!!! that is NUTS):
* made it through my extendo university life
* taught myself how to snowboard
* developed a healthy addiction to all things yoga
* lived in 2 university residences and 10 different apartments with a total of 15 roommates
* worked at a host of different non-profits and built my career
* hopefully made a difference in the lives of kids and yutes out here
* made lots of friends and worked on making my urban family
* got my woman-body
* negotiated living 1500 miles away from my family (ongoing)
* remained a good daughter and good granddaughter (for the most part - a couple of glitches along the way)
* dated some good people, some ok people and some people who steal your tv
* recovered from dating people who steal your tv
* became an aunt
* got my driver's license and first car
* went on some great vacations (including a country that is now on fire)
* had some great visits from fine friends and family
* saw some friends / family get hitched
* was amazed by friends / family who had babies
* had 3 pairs of glasses
* found a fabulous hair dresser

yes, all of those accomplishments - from the sublime to the goreblimey, as my mom would say.
and yes, there will be a partay. and it will be HUGE - like the number 10.

as they say, i am in double digits. huzzah!

a whole bunch of ms. canoeheads

went on a great canoe trip on the weekend to alouette lake.
soooo much fun.
here are some pics.

this is me in my natural element. i was feeling so ill before i left, but then i got in a canoe and everything was fine. as in, i had a huge cheshire grin on my face the entire time just because i was in a canoe.

us in full action mode - staring off down the (oh-so-sunny) lake.

at the end. doing our glam shot poses. 8x10 glossies are available for a nominal fee.

one week

what a difference it can make.

i went on yoga retreat and now everything seems so much easier to deal with. it doesn't mean that nothing is happening but somehow it's more manageable. (things that have happened upon my return - clearing the air between friends, hanging out, mourning the loss of a lovely cat, strategic planning with lots of wonderful people and one person who LOVES the sound of his own voice and is an arrogant prick when he is at work - otherwise he's lovely too - chores, and test-driving a new gym).

and i am completely back on the animal. i was totally veggie (except for at my cousin's wedding since everything veggie had serious amounts of dairy) for about 4 months and all it took was a day long yoga practice and all i wanted at the local pub was a bacon cheeseburger. and there were tonnes of veggie options too. today i had chicken for the first time in a long time and my brain totally said "welcome home" when the chicken went in my mouth. maybe it's a seasonal thing too.

anyhoo - not sure what my intent was in posting this but, hey, it's words that are filling up space in an unoffensive manner. i have a new yoga toy - toe-spreaders - they hurt but they work. on the retreat we just called them "toe torture".

here's a yoga freak off the internet. where did her hands go?


now to bed.

poop on a scoop

life is not bad. don't get me wrong. but it is definitely hump day and i am feeling the pain.

too much going on. work is good, but i don't have a lot to do right now. my volunteer work totally picked up and was in crisis mode for the past 2 days which was tiring, and now i'm volunteering to write a stinkin' report for my former workplace which i so don't want to do, but is now very close to being overdue.

and then my grandad had chest pains and he's ok, but it brings up all of this family stuff which is messy and hard to process at times.

and then my freakin' wholesome bread which i bought at market on saturday is already mouldy so i cut off the bad parts and barely assembled a veggie dog for dinner which followed my amazing appetizers of yogurt with choco chips and crackers with cheez whiz (aka orange plastic). and i just had a fruit bar to top off my fabulous dinner. *groan*

honestly. i am going on yoga retreat this weekend and it cannot come fast enough.

ugh.

the word of the weekend is....

quiet.

after running around and funning around all week, i'm pooped. more to the point, i am knitting and loving nesting and talking on the phone and having minimal plans. i also like delaying plans, as in, i will clean my house tomorrow and i will continue to sit on my couch next to all of the stuff i have dumped on it during the past week.

so yes, i'm knitting a scarf and it's pretty but somehow i always think the actual skein of wool is prettier than the actual knitted project. it's very weird. i think i like seeing things in their randomness rather than all prettified - my wool is beautifully dyed and just seems a little cheesier in the rainbow stripes that it knits into.

anyhoo, here's hoping i have enough wool for an actual scarf, and not just for a scarf that also doubles as a placemat.

i'm off, with no plans. sweeet.

me and my mom

my mom and i had a great visit and here are some of the photos.
we went to the farm, harrison, whidbey island and seattle. then we did full family wedding extravaganza, and i have spent the last week recovering from all of our fun (but more specifically, from ripping my quads in various dance-offs at my cousin's wedding.)

here's the highlight reel.

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i think we're related...

here's me and my niece eating a vanilla dip doughnut (her first!) in may. i think that is the same look of complete satisfaction and focus.

ha ha